July 2, 2012

Alumni visits in London and Paris

by dan rodriguez

Pleased to meet with group of alumni in these two spectacular cities. In various visits with expat NU Law alumni, I have enjoyed learning about the complexities of the European legal market. Given the different configuration of legal education in Europe, young lawyers come to these law firms, well, very young. The firms put a premium on intra-firm traning — and, indeed, some of the hirees come without even an undergraduate legal degree, instead taking a “conversion” course to give them the bona fides to join these large Euro firms on what is called a two-year training contract.

Legal education in Europe is highly subsidized, with even the very top educational institutions (e.g., Oxford, University College London, Sorbonne, Sciences Po) signfiicantly less expensive than their American counterparts. The implications for comparative student debt load are obvious. On the other hand, European lawyers are impressed the breadth and scope of American legal education, particularly skills training and intensive writing instruction. There is little by way of analogue in the (quite large) British and French universities.

With regard to law firms in particular, Northwestern law alums are found in key positions in the major law firms of Europe, a testament to the global reach of the law school and, of course, the intrepid ambitions of our alumni!